First week review with our new 2019 i3s

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SSi3

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 15, 2014
Messages
384
Location
Ontario, Canada
Early review of the 2019 i3s 120Ah BEV now that I’ve had the car for almost a week.

First off it just drives so much better than the 2015 Rex I had. Kudos to the chassis engineers at BMW for turning the s into a fun little hot (warm?) hatch! The suspension is tighter (obviously) and the front struts don’t have that crashy feel over rough roads like my 2015. Maybe that’s also the bigger and wider rolling stock helping as well. The rear end doesn’t bang over bridge expansion joints either, BMW has definitely learned how to tune this chassis over the past 5 years. The steering feels much better too, it’s less assisted in comfort/EP compared to the 2015 and even has some road feedback coming through to the steering wheel, something the numb and over-assisted 2015 never had. Maybe this is unique to the s for 2019 and the non-s still has the same steering as the 2015, I don’t know as I haven’t driven one. The steering gets a little heavier in Sport mode but I haven’t had it long enough to explore its sporting abilities.
Other driving notes - The motor sounds different, the acceleration whine is louder and the regen is more jetson-like compared to the 2015, I like it. It has less regen braking strength than the 2015, not a lot less, but enough that I have to retrain my brain for braking distances in traffic. I don’t have a problem with this as it will be easier on the rear tires and I expect that it will be easier to drive in the winter thanks to the less aggressive regen and the updated TC system.
Other random things – the bi-LED headlights (with static cornering lights) are awesome, won’t miss the halogen highbeams! Finally every bulb on the car is now LED. The doors sound different when you close them, a more solid thud… even the locks sound different, like they updated (or a new supplier) the mechanisms. All the little changes and new features that come together to make it feel like a truly updated car such as iDrive 6.0, auto highbeams, wireless charger in the armrest, sunroof, 3A USB-C port in place of the old aux jack, Vernasca leather, dark brown wood on the dash (in the sun it looks good enough to eat), more bass from the h/k audio and a new parking sensor tone that now comes from the speakers in the corner/side of the vehicle that is detecting something. Speaking of parking sensors, the s loses the self-parking feature because the front flares cover the location of the side sensors; this doesn’t matter to me as I never used it (other than to demo it for laughs) and is probably a good thing since it scratched a lot of peoples wheels and these new 20’s are too pretty for that kind of abuse.

So far I’m loving it, can’t wait for the first roadtrip!
 
Glad youare enjoying your new I3 but your characterization of the 15 i3 Rex is surprising.
I drive a 15 Rex is Los Angeles with a lot of crappy roads but have never felt a "crashy" feel. Numb steering on the 15? With no feedback?

SSi3 said:
Early review of the 2019 i3s 120Ah BEV now that I’ve had the car for almost a week.

First off it just drives so much better than the 2015 Rex I had. Kudos to the chassis engineers at BMW for turning the s into a fun little hot (warm?) hatch! The suspension is tighter (obviously) and the front struts don’t have that crashy feel over rough roads like my 2015. Maybe that’s also the bigger and wider rolling stock helping as well. The rear end doesn’t bang over bridge expansion joints either, BMW has definitely learned how to tune this chassis over the past 5 years. The steering feels much better too, it’s less assisted in comfort/EP compared to the 2015 and even has some road feedback coming through to the steering wheel, something the numb and over-assisted 2015 never had. Maybe this is unique to the s for 2019 and the non-s still has the same steering as the 2015, I don’t know as I haven’t driven one. The steering gets a little heavier in Sport mode but I haven’t had it long enough to explore its sporting abilities.
Other driving notes - The motor sounds different, the acceleration whine is louder and the regen is more jetson-like compared to the 2015, I like it. It has less regen braking strength than the 2015, not a lot less, but enough that I have to retrain my brain for braking distances in traffic. I don’t have a problem with this as it will be easier on the rear tires and I expect that it will be easier to drive in the winter thanks to the less aggressive regen and the updated TC system.
Other random things – the bi-LED headlights (with static cornering lights) are awesome, won’t miss the halogen highbeams! Finally every bulb on the car is now LED. The doors sound different when you close them, a more solid thud… even the locks sound different, like they updated (or a new supplier) the mechanisms. All the little changes and new features that come together to make it feel like a truly updated car such as iDrive 6.0, auto highbeams, wireless charger in the armrest, sunroof, 3A USB-C port in place of the old aux jack, Vernasca leather, dark brown wood on the dash (in the sun it looks good enough to eat), more bass from the h/k audio and a new parking sensor tone that now comes from the speakers in the corner/side of the vehicle that is detecting something. Speaking of parking sensors, the s loses the self-parking feature because the front flares cover the location of the side sensors; this doesn’t matter to me as I never used it (other than to demo it for laughs) and is probably a good thing since it scratched a lot of peoples wheels and these new 20’s are too pretty for that kind of abuse.

So far I’m loving it, can’t wait for the first roadtrip!
 
nickp said:
Glad youare enjoying your new I3 but your characterization of the 15 i3 Rex is surprising.
I drive a 15 Rex is Los Angeles with a lot of crappy roads but have never felt a "crashy" feel. Numb steering on the 15? With no feedback?

I'm in Canada, I highly doubt any road in LA is worse than here.

As for the steering, it all depends on what you're used to and what sort of vehicles you've driven in the past.
 
Steering feel is pretty garbage on all i3s (and all EPS cars I've driven) compared to a traditional HPS setup. But, glad to hear it's better on the s!
 
Obioban –

I'm interested in your comment about EPS in the i3.

Before I bought my i3 I owned two M cars that had hydraulic assist. In the intervening years I've had the chance to drive BMWs with electric assist (mostly M cars) and was really disappointed. M3 / M4 / M240i... the steering has no life.

At my first i3 test drive, though, I was thrilled by the steering. There's no dead zone at center – just the lightest lick of pressure to one side and the car follows. Perhaps there's not an abundance of "feel", but in terms of driver satisfaction, I've not experienced better steering in any modern BMW.
 
When you say every bulb is LED, are you also referring to the interior lights as well? I picked up a 2019 i3 BEV (deka with tech pack and HK), but the interior lighting is not LED... I wanted a dark interior so I went with the base, but BMW’s website never mentioned anything about ambient lighting or LEDs... :/

Can anyone recommend aftermarket bulbs that will work? Easy to replace? What about the door handles? Any way to enable them?

Thanks in advance!
 
Hello, Diversity83 –

Which lights in the interior do you suspect to be non-LED?

BMW sweated to get energy consumption down on the i3. The only incandescents that I know of are the front turn indicators (round) on the 2014-2017 models.
 
The high beams on all i3's that I'm aware of, are halogen bulbs. On the entry level version of the i3, the low beams were incandescents, too. Not positive on the interior lights, but think they are incandescents as well. But, since those aren't generally on for most of your drives, it's not as big of a deal.
 
jadnashuanh –

Yes, you're right, I forgot about the high beams – because I so rarely use them!

High beams switched over to LEDs (along with the front turn signals) starting with model year 2018.
 
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